Tag: Steam

Chaturday: The One in Which I Get Myself Blacklisted, And That’s a Good Thing


I had some extra time to work on today’s Chaturday article, so I thought I’d make this one extra long. Sit back and enjoy.

This week I’d like to take a look at Valve’s recent decision to no longer curate games on Steam, barring games that are illegal or blatantly trolling. This has prompted an immediate and unsurprising backlash from a population of the internet whose income and livelihoods are directly proportional to the amount of drama that they can stir up. The doomsayers came out of their holes to proclaim that the service is now damned to be a hellscape of disgusting pornographic games where Nazis and white supremacists murder babies! The National Center on Sexual Exploitation claimed that there were one thousand games on Steam with sexual content, and every single one without exception was objectifying in nature.

It’s important to note here that none of the games journalists you may have seen talking about this are trying to take your games away, and I know this because they’ve been telling us repeatedly for the past five years. If I am repeatedly slapping food out of the hand of a small child, it doesn’t mean I’m against that child eating or trying to control him, I’m just saying that his hands can’t hold the food that I don’t personally like.

And for what it’s worth, I think that a lot of these recent decisions at Valve come down to the flat corporate structure. The decision to remove Hatred all those years back was done and then reversed because there is no real managerial structure in the company. Nobody to come out and squarely lead with a vision for how the Steam store should exist. As a result, factions form with differing opinions which arguably led to the warning letters being sent to certain developers a few weeks ago, and you have a company that massively disagrees on how to police the store with nobody around to pull rank and say “my word is final.” Nobody can agree on who gets to push the big shiny “approved” button, so nobody gets to push it at all.

I could spend a year going over quotes from our friends in the games media losing their collective sanity over this announcement, but I don’t have that kind of time. Inverse posted a piece saying that Valve’s response to trolling was to monetize it, despite that being a complete lie, saying that Valve’s answer to bigotry is to monetize it, despite not having any evidence of games genuinely advocating bigotry appearing or attempting to appear on the platform. Polygon’s Ben Kuchera wrote a piece with the subheading “anything goes as long as you give Valve a cut,” a blatantly false statement followed by paragraphs of trying to connect how Valve is wrong for deciding what constitutes an “illegal game” as it makes them the arbitrary decision maker, but also wrong for not acting as arbitrary decision maker on which games pass muster for the store. Freelance writer Nick Capozzoli compared the statement to Valve essentially saying “We believe we should bring Nazis together,” a flagrant misrepresentation.

Even the founder of Itch.io got in on the salt-throwing, posting “A platform that allows “everything, unless it’s illegal or straight up trolling” is ridiculous. Please keep your malicious, derogatory, discriminatory, bullying, harassing, demeaning content off . Our ban buttons are ready.” Incidentally, within five minutes of searching, MMO Fallout had managed to pick up a lengthy list of titles hosted on, and thus presumably endorsed, by itch.io, including hentai games with less-than-consensual sex, games where the objective is to beat up aggressive, beautiful girls, and a game that simply describes itself as “Learn Japanese You Faggot!” Itch.io is a veritable dumping ground for virtually everything that would never make its way on to Steam, be it meme games, troll games, outright piracy, and unfettered copyright infringement. If there are any stores that have no standing to criticize Valve’s curation, it’s itch.io.

It’s not entirely surprising to see outlets deliberately misinterpreting Valve’s statements, bringing up titles like Active Shooting Simulator and conveniently passing over either the fact that the game was removed, or why it was removed, and presenting hyperbolic questions on whether or not Valve will accept certain games, pointing to titles that a reasonable person could conclude to fall under the trolling rule. I say unsurprising because many of these writers are the same people whose bread and butter lies in outrage bait, throwing out accusations and feigning offense to drive hate-views by the thousands, otherwise known as trolling for profit. If these articles had been video games, they’d be banned from Steam.

One subject in which I will agree with my fellow press on is this: If Valve is claiming that they are going to only block illegal games and troll games, they damn sure better start actually doing that. As I said previously, Valve has pretty explicitly stated that they had no intention of selling Active Shooter Simulator on Steam, a statement that would hold more water if Valve weren’t clearly getting ready to sell Active Shooter on Steam. The same goes for titles like Aids Simulator, Gay World, and that shooting game where the only goal is to kill gay people. Titles that are so obvious from the slightest glance to be troll titles and yet they managed to get their way on to Steam before being removed.

In reality, the media should be happy about these changes, as should Youtubers. After all, the idea of Steam being flooded with dozens of games on a daily basis just means that people will be going back to modern and traditional games media in order to find the titles worth playing. It also grants a fantastic opportunity to the portion of games media that really likes writing troll bait but hates actually playing games. If Steam actually becomes the cesspool that you predict, you will have a lifetime of articles to express faux outrage.

The only people who have a genuine right to be angry about these changes are the developers, for whom many this open door policy means drowning in an even larger ocean of competing voices.

Otherwise I have no opinion on the matter.

Valve’s Steam Policy: Aids Simulator, No, Suicide Simulator, Yes


(Update: Since this posting, all of the developer’s titles have been pulled from Steam)

Aids Simulator was a game set to launch on Steam on June 12, 2018, at least until Valve shut it down and ripped it off the game store (still available in its archived state) According to its developer, BunchOD00dz, Aids Simulator is a game where you play as someone who goes to Africa and gets HIV, and must now kill all of the Africans who gave you HIV. It bills itself as an asset flip that performs poorly and isn’t fun. In short, it’s exactly the troll game to make the press go nuts.

The developer’s other titles include Suicide Simulator, which has apparently been deemed not a troll game and thus suitable for Steam, and Blackscreen Simulator, a title that is not in fact a black screen but instead a zombie shooter using flipped assets that similarly bills itself as short, low quality, and prone to crashing.

With Valve’s new stance on lowering the barrier to entry for Steam while toughening its stance on troll games, we’ll have to see how games like Aids Simulator and Suicide Simulator are handled going forward.

Wild West Online To Offer Free Trial As Traffic Drops


Wild West Online is preparing to implement a free trial as its Steam numbers continue to drop. Having released barely a month ago, Wild West Online launched to a peak of 559 players on Steam and currently sits at less than 40 as of this writing with a 24 hour peak of 84.

“We’re adding free trial version of the game. It’ll be available both at our website as well as thru Steam on a game’s store page. Free trial version will let users to play game as a normal player, but with some restrictions.”

Trial accounts will be restricted to level 20 and will not be able to unlock achievements or receive rewards. Wild West Online currently sits at a 37% “mostly negative” rating on Steam.

(Source: Steam)

Bless Online Is A Mess Online; Neowiz Apologizes, Compensates Players


Bless Online launched into early access this week and the launch was a bit of a mess. Between server lag, outages, maintenance, and the existence of a rather treacherous item dupe exploit, players were up in arms with some demanding refunds for their founder’s pack purchases.

In response, Neowiz posted an apology, promising fixes and outlining plans for the weeks ahead. Since the game initially launched with just a few servers, more servers have been added and much of the lag seems to have subsided.

Bless Online’s Early Access was always intended to be a growing experience, with systems and content being added in the weeks and months ahead; this is why we chose the Steam Early Access program. We are sincerely sorry that our players were led to believe otherwise, and we are happy to allow refunds for those who feel they cannot wait for the new content to arrive. We hope that you will return to the world of Bless when the features you expect are in the game and ready for your participation.

As part of its compensation, Neowiz has granted accounts approximately $20 in Lumena, the game’s premium currency.

(Source: Steam)

PSA: Only The Basic Bless Online Pack Is Eligible For Refund


Bless Online launches its head start into Early Access right now, and those of you interested in taking part can do so via one of three early access packs. Available for $40, for $70, and for $150, these early access packs grant various goodies for your in-game characters.

It should be noted, however, that of the three packs only one is refundable should you decide that the game is just not up to snuff within two hours of gameplay or two weeks of purchase, whichever comes first. The $70 and $150 packs are listed on Steam as not eligible for refund. It appears that this is linked to the founders packs constituting DLC, which Valve tends to be more restrictive of when it comes to refunds.

Those of you not too certain on your purchase may want to spring for the cheapest option, or simply wait it out as launch issues are dealt with. Launch issues with crashes and server overload may result in your game time going over the normal refundable period.

(Source: Steam)

PSA: How To Actually Unlock The Raiders DLC On Steam


Raiders of the Broken Planet is giving its DLC away for free, but only until Friday. The method to unlock said DLC is rather, shall we say, convoluted and probably somewhat confusing for some of you. So MMO Fallout has put together a comprehensive guide on how to unlock Raiders free campaigns while the promotion is still going.

Step 1: Don’t Click On “Add To Cart”

Clicking on Add to Cart is probably why you are Googling this in the first place. Clicking Add To Cart will add the item to your cart and provide you with a cost to purchase. You’re not here to buy the DLC for $10, you’re here to buy it for $0.

Step 2: Go To The DLC’s Page

Click on the DLC to view its store page. Here you will see the DLC listed with the option to just “Download” it, as shown above.

Step 3: Click Download

Click download. This will activate the DLC to your account. You’re done, that’s all there is to it.

Apple Rejects Steam Link Streaming App For iOS


Apple has rejected Valve’s Steam Link app for iOS, the company announced this week. The app, released on Android with no apparent problems, allows users to stream their Steam library to their tablets or phones. According to Valve’s press release, quoted below, Apple cited business conflicts as the reason for their rejection of the app.

“On Monday, May 7th, Apple approved the Steam Link app for release. On Weds, May 9th, Valve released news of the app. The following morning, Apple revoked its approval citing business conflicts with app guidelines that had allegedly not been realized by the original review team. Valve appealed, explaining the Steam Link app simply functions as a LAN-based remote desktop similar to numerous remote desktop applications already available on the App Store. Ultimately, that appeal was denied leaving the Steam Link app for iOS blocked from release. The team here spent many hours on this project and the approval process, so we’re clearly disappointed. But we hope Apple will reconsider in the future.”

In other words: It allows people to play games without Apple getting a cut of the revenue.

(Source: Valve Press Release)

505 Games Reveals Memories of Mars: Open World Survival Shooter


Limbic Entertainment has released the latest trailer for Memories of Mars, an open world survival game set on none other than the red planet itself. Memories of Mars will task players with surviving the harsh conditions of the planetary surface, competing with other players and fending off the wildlife as they build their home away from home and make life just a smidgen easier on themselves.

To keep the game fun and fresh, Memories of Mars will implement seasons, periodic solar flares that wipe out all life and construction on the planet and force everyone to start anew. Thanks to the existence of cloning, however, you’ll be able to get a head start with some blueprints carried over from the previous season. The game will also feature a series of events to encourage players to compete with one another to salvage valuable resources.

Memories of Mars hits early access on Steam later this Spring. It is being developed by Limbic Entertainment who you may recognize from their work on Might and Magic: Heroes VII, and is being published by 505 Games who also published games like Payday 2 and Terraria.

(Source: Press Release)

PSA: Crusader Kings II Free On Steam


Crusader Kings II is free on Steam, and if you pick it up right now you’ll be able to keep it forever. Just head over to the Steam store page and activate the game to your account. You don’t need to download it right away to keep it. Crusader Kings II was released in 2012 by Paradox Interactive and currently holds a 77% “Mostly Positive” rating on Steam. As of this posting, there are nearly 30,00 people playing concurrently.

Granted, you’ll still need to throw down a pretty penny to get every one of the game’s DLC packs, which are currently on sale at 50% off.

(Source: Steam)

[Not Massive] Preview: Ion Maiden Plugs Old School Into New School


Ion Storm is the perfect level of ridiculous to be almost believable. Imagine for a moment that in 2018 I’m trying to tell you that 3D Realms is not only releasing a new game, but it is a first person shooter on the Build Engine starring a character who is essentially Duke Nukem’s lady alternate.

In a world where crispy M&M’s, French Toast Crunch, and Jumanji are all making a comeback, it only stands to reason that a shooter actually built out of a twenty year old engine would be eaten up like, well, crispy M&M’s. Ion Maiden is currently in early access on Steam with an anticipated release date of later this year, and people are loving it. It currently holds a 97% approval rating and clocks in at a hard drive busting thirty two megabytes.

Without a doubt, Ion Maiden is the Duke Nukem game we all wished had released instead of the depressing episode that was Duke Nukem Forever, and likely evidence that 3D Realms might still have the Duke rights if George Broussard hadn’t catapulted his company into the sun in the pursuit of fancier game engines. Everything you’d want from a Duke Nukem iteration is in Ion Maiden from the fast paced gun action to the cheesy one liners, pop culture references, and maze-like maps with tons of hidden areas.

The Build Engine has been modified and upgraded throughout the years to include a 3D renderer and be capable of showing off really good looking sprites. Those of you who don’t wax poetic about the virtues of 90’s shooters might not find the aesthetics as appealing, considering anything and everything in the world is a two dimensional sprite that moves its orientation to face you no matter how quickly you circle around it. Still, 3D Realms has created nothing short of magic with this engine since it debuted in 1997, and while it may not impress anyone with its graphical fidelity, it is by no means simple.

It’s especially impressive when you consider that the Build Engine isn’t technically 3D, it just tricks you into thinking it is.

Right now there is only a sample campaign available that should take you about an hour to finish and a hell of a lot more time if you decide to try and track down every one of the campaign’s dozens of secret areas. There are only a handful of enemies and the preview is rather short, so I can’t fault anyone for simply waiting until the full game comes out later this year especially since it’ll still be a cheap $20.